Not About Love

Chapter Five

Cool fingers stroked over my cheek and I struggled to open my eyes. I was on my back, the room around me shadowed. A fierce stabbing pain jabbed through the front of my head. Opening my mouth to moan, I ended up coughing instead.

"Shh, China. Take it easy."

Braden? What was Braden doing here? Where was I? I opened my eyes wider to find him sitting on the side of the bed, a concerned look on his face. Bed. This wasn't my bed. There was a beeping sound. Why was there a beeping sound? "Where am I?" I mumbled.

"You fainted while we were on the phone. Tracy picked it up after you dropped it. She couldn't bring you around, so I told her to call the paramedics and have them bring you here. You've been out cold for the last six hours." He shifted as I tried to comprehend what he was saying. "You've been walking around with bacterial pneumonia, Lisle. Why didn't you go to the doctor when your fever didn't break?"

Hospital. I was in the hospital. Malcolm had died in the hospital. So had my grandfather. And my father. Memories of a body jerking up off the bed, limbs flopping, hit me like a freight train. My heart sped up and my breathing grew shallow as I started to panic. Wide-eyed with it, I fought to sit up, yanking at the drip line attached to my arm. I had to go. I couldn't stay here.

"Whoa, slow down. What are you doing? You're too sick to get out of bed. The doctor

wants to keep you overnight, for observation. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell off that stool." Braden's face loomed into my line of sight as he pushed me back.

I grabbed his wrists, squeezing as hard as I could. "You have to get me out of here. Braden, please. Now. I can't stay here." My breath was coming in short pants, wheezing in and out as I twisted my head from side to side, searching for an escape route.

"China, come on. Calm down. It's okay." His voice was soothing, and I wanted to obey. I couldn't. The images of all those past visits began to bombard me, and over the roaring in my ears I heard him calling for a doctor.

Warm fingers clasped my wrist as an unfamiliar face came into view. Pulse. Someone was feeling for my pulse. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath, held it. Blew it out. My heart was thumping in triple time, the beat of it reverberating in my head.

"She's upset about something." That had to be the doctor. I opened my eyes, searching for Braden. He blurred, and I blinked, bringing him back into focus. He blurred again, and I felt something hot drip onto my cheek. Crying. I was crying. Well, maybe it would get me out of here.

"Braden," I gasped, reaching out for his hand. He moved to the side of the bed. I pleaded with my eyes, silently asking him to get me out of this hell hole.

He studied me for a moment before facing the doctor. "I can take her home, look after her. She's only staying for observation because of the fall she took." Yes, please. I'd go anywhere with him, as long as it meant I wouldn't have to stay in the hospital.

They argued back and forth for a while. It took too much effort to follow their conversation, though, and I gave up. I lay there with my hand in Braden's, fighting off the panic wanting to swamp me. Finally he let go of my hand, and a second later he was brushing the hair from my face. "I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to go get you discharged."

I nodded and rolled onto my side, curling into the fetal position. I must have drifted back to sleep, because the next thing I knew I was airborne. There was a car, the drive horrendously long and not long enough. Then strong arms were holding me against a hard, muscled chest. Braden. My savior. I was racking up the favors with him. I was too ill to care.

I drifted in and out of consciousness over the next few days, and I had vague memories of being helped into the bathroom, of liquids being forced down my throat, of warm lips and cool hands stroking over my skin.